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The invention relates generally to kitchen appliance covers, and particularly to a device for reducing or muffling sound from appliances such as coffee grinders during operation of the appliance.
Many people like to start their morning with a fresh cup of coffee, a practice that is widespread throughout the world, and particularly throughout Europe and America. The United States is the largest individual coffee-consuming nation in the world, drinking approximately one fifth of the 14 billion total pounds of coffee grown worldwide, which translates to an average of 500 million cups of coffee every single day. Every year in the United States more than $5 billion of roasted coffee is sold nationally, making coffee the second most valuable item of international trade after petroleum.
The American National Coffee Association recommends that coffee consumers purchase their coffee as soon after it has been roasted as possible, since fresh roasted coffee produces a better cup of coffee, and that they purchase coffee in small amountsxe2x80x94only as much as can be used in a given period of time. When whole bean coffee is used it should be ground as close to the brew time as possible for best results. Increasingly nowadays, more and more people are following these recommendations, as coffee has become an important component of their diet and social life. In recent years specialty coffees have become more important with better beans and darker roasts, and these premium coffees now account for 20% of the roasted coffee sold in the United States.
It is apparent from these statistics and recommendations that to brew the best coffee, and particularly to get the most out of what can be an expensive investment in specialty coffee, that one should buy whole bean coffee and grind that coffee just prior to brewing. Only then can the maximum benefit be obtained. This simple fact has generated huge sales in home coffee grinders over recent years, most of which are unfortunately quite noisy in use. Noisy coffee grinders may seem like a small inconvenience, but given that so many people enjoy their coffee early in the morning, often when others in the household are fast asleep, there exists a huge problemxe2x80x94how to grind and brew the best coffee without waking everyone else up? In general, coffee consumers would like to enjoy the best, freshest ground coffee, and maximize their investment in premium coffee beans, without causing an annoyance to others with the noise of their coffee grinder.
The invention addresses the needs of those people who prefer to grind their own coffee, and particularly those early morning risers or others who are inconvenienced by the sound of their coffee grinder. Generally, the invention relates to kitchen appliances and covers, and specifically in one embodiment to a device for reducing or muffling the sound from kitchen appliances such as coffee grinders. Additionally, the muffling device can be left on the appliance even when not in use, providing a much welcome decoration to the kitchen in a style appropriate to it""s surroundings. Using the muffling device, a person can enjoy fresh-ground coffee at any time of the day with the assurance that the sound from the coffee grinder is well insulated (i.e. reduced). The invention is particularly easy to deploy and to use, requires no moving parts, and is flexible enough to work with the majority of coffee grinder products currently on the market. Other embodiments can be fashioned within the spirit and scope of the invention so as to work with other, non-standard coffee grinders or kitchen appliances.
In one embodiment the invention comprises a sound reducing or muffling device for a coffee grinder, comprising: a housing having a substantially cylindrical shape, said housing including an open end, and a roof end; a sound reducing material within said housing; and, wherein said housing may be placed on a coffee grinder, and pressure applied to said roof end to activate said coffee grinder with the sound reduced.